Machine for bending scythe-snaths.



No. 841,357. PATENTED JAN. 15, 1907.

. A. TOWE. MACHINE FOR BEN DING SOYTHE SNATHS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1904.

Aifier Q 050? Witnesses: I Inventor;

THE mamas PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, n. c.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

n'nTTnn STATES PATENT onrron.

ALBER TOWE. or CHARLOTTE, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FOR BENDING SCYTHE-SNATHS.

No. 841,357. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 15, 1907.

' Application filed May 27, 1904. Serial No. 210,136.

To all whom i may dmwfirn: pressure to the blanks as they are forced Be it known that I, ALBERT Town, a cit1- through the former. zen of the United States, residing at Char- The frame of the machine comprises in this lotte, in the county of Eaton and State of instance a base 9, a pair of standards 10, and Michigan, have invented a new and useful a cross-piece 11, connecting the upper ends of Machinefor Bending Scythe-Qnaths, of which the standards and bracing them against the following is a specification. movement in the operation of the machine. This invention relates to machines for The former 2 is suitably secured to the standbending scythe-snaths. ards 10 against any tendency to movement 10 The object of the invention is in a rapid and comprises ametallic body having a chanand practical manner without danger of nel 12, that extends longitudinally and vertisplintering the-snath-blank and in one operacally therethrough and which, in efiect, contion to impart to the blank all the bends necstitutes the former, the upper end of the essary to produce a finished snath. channel being straight to receive the blank in 1 5 With the above and other objects in view, its initial form, as shown in Fig. 2, and thence as will appear as the nature of the invention gradually merges into curves that taper latis better understood, the same consists 1n erally from the plane of the opening and. that the novel constructlon and combination of terminate at the bottom of the body in an parts of amachine for bending scythe-snaths, opening 13 of the exact shape of the snath 20 as will be hereinafter fully described and when viewed in plan, as shown in Fig. 3, or,

claimed. in other words, the opening 13 imparts all of 7 5 In the accompanying drawings, forming a the belly or horizontal bends to the snathpart of this specification, and in which like blank.

charactersof reference indicatecorresponding In order to reduce friction between the 2 5 parts, Figure 1 is a view1n vertical longitudisnath-blank and the inner walls of the channel section through the machine. Fig. 2 is a nel, the latter are provided with ribs 14, view in perspective of the former, exhibiting which may be of any number and spaced at the upper side thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view any desired distance apart. The former, as of the former, showing the under side thereof. shown in Figs. 2 and 8, is composed of two 0 Fig. 4 is a view in rear elevation of one of the side plates 2 and 2 and two end plates 14C plungers. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectlonal and 14 the latter being held combined with view through the former and plunger. Fig. the former by bolts 14, which. project from 6 is a detail view of one of the abutments. the ends of the side plates, and nuts seat- Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the shields 00- ed on the bolts.

5 acting with the plunger. Fig. 8 is a sectional The bed supports a hollow form 15, which detail view of a part of the plunger. Fig. 9 receives the blank from the mouth 13 of the go is a horizontal sectional view taken on the former. The upper surface of the bottom of line 9 9, Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the form has all of the vertical snath bends, the arrow thereon. Fig. 10 is a similar view 1 and, in conjunction with the plungers, the

0 taken on the line 10 10, Fig. 1. Fig. 11 is a under faces of which have all of the vertical similar view taken on the line 11 11, Fig. 1. bends of the blank, but in reverse order to 5 Fig. 12 is a similar View taken on the line 12 those of the form, as shown in Fig. 18, im- 12, Fig. 1. Fig. 13 is a detail view in elevaparts to the blank all the vertical bends, the tion of the plungers, showing more particuform being designed to retain the bent blank L 5 larly the configuration of the under faces until it is dry. The bed 1 rests upon a pluthereof. rality of coiled springs 16, that are interposed Too The machine of the present invention embetween it and the base 9 and are adapted to bodies in its construction a bed 1, a former 2, yield to excessive pressure, and thus remove a plurality of flexible or yieldable plungers 3, any danger of breaking the form in the op- 50 4, and 5, guards 6 and 7, coacting with the eration of the machine.

plungers 3 and 5 to insure easy passage of the At one end of the former is arranged the 10 5 snath-blank S through the former, and an ad angular abutment 8, the inner face of which justable angular abutment 8, which by coacis inclined outward from its upper end totion with the guard 7 imparts the desired end ward the bed, the object of which is to 1mpart end. pressure to the blanks as they are forced through the form, and thus operate to crowd the grain of the blank from its ends inward toward its center, and. thereby obviate danger of stretching or breaking the fibers at the outer side or bulge of the belly of the blank. The abutment is in this instance shown as interposed between the end plate 14 and the ends of the side plates; but, as will be obvious, its position may be transposed without departing from the spirit of the invention. The abutment is made ad justable vertically, so as to increase or diminish the end pressure, as maybe necessary, and this is eifected by providing the abutment with a plurality of longitudinal slots 16 through which project the bolts 14 The plungers 3, 4, and 5 are each composed of a series of sections 17, articulated to each other and adapted to yield laterally in a horizontal plane in order to pass through the channel 12, as will be readily understood by reference to Figs. 10, 11, and 12.

Each of the standards 10 is provided on its inner face with a vertical guideway 18, Fig. 9, the two guideways being adapted to be en gaged by guides 18", carried by the upper sections of plunger-actuating bars 19, each of which is composed of two sections connected by a ball-and-socket joint 20, each upper section 21 having a rack-plate 22 secured to it and each lower section 23 being suitably con nected with the plungersections. By the employment of the ball-and-socket joints the lower sections will be permitted to have inward, outward, and lateral movements without interfering with the upper sections, thus to cause the plungers to accommodate themselves to the different positions to which they will be moved in use.

In order to hold the sections 17 of the terminal plungers against dropping, stay-rods 24 are provided, one end of each of which is mounted between a pair of ears 25 on the actuating-bar section 23 and the other end be.- tween a pair of ears 26 on one of the sections 17. The terminals of the stay-rods are held pivotally secured between the pairs of ears 25 and 26 by pins 27, each of which has reduced extremities to work in the ears and an intermediate ball or rounded. portion upon which the terminals of the stay-rod ma rock, thus to allow the sections 17 to yield to the contour of the channel of the former, the construction of the pins 27 being shown in detail in Fig. 8. The center plunger is the same in construction as the two end plungers, except that it is about double their length and its sections are supported by two stayrods 28.

In addition to securing the function defined the stay-rods 24 and 28, in conjunction with the lower sections 23 of the plunger-actuating bars 19, operate to retain the plungersections 17 in position to cause faces always to preserve the curves of the vertical bends of the snath.

The plunger-actuating bar 29 of the center section engages a guideway 29 and is provided at its upper portion with a rack 30, and this rack. as well as the racks 22 of the plungeractuating bars 19 and 21, are engaged by gearwheels 31, that are driven from any suitable source of power. (Not necessary to be shown.)

In order to guide the snath-blank through the former and to prevent any interference between its ends and the ends of the channel of the former, the outer terminal section 32 of each of the plungers 3 and 5 is provided with the guards 6 and 7, above referred to, which consist of depending flanges that bear against the terminals of the blank. Thus asthe plungers are forced into the channel of the former these guards will bear, respectively, at one end against an end wall of the channel and at the other end against the abutment 8, and the latter by coaction with the guard 7 will exert the desired end pressure, and the two guards will insure ready passage of the blank through the channel without resistance.

In order to prevent the blank tering, there is a flexible combined with each of the plunger-sections, that are adapted to yield to the movement of the sections, and by being interposed between the snath-blanks and the walls of the channel the blanks are positively shielded against injury by contact with the walls, and any tendency of the fibers to splinter at the inner or outer curves of the belly bend. of the blank is positively obviated. Ordinarily one shield. will be suflicient to be combined with each plunger,- but, if preferred, there may be one on each side, so that both sides of the blank will be protected by a flexible guard.

from splinshield or jacket their under When the blank is being bent, there is a i tendency for the small end to spring away from the plunger, and if this be permitted benefits secured from the end pressure will be lost and the fibers will be permitted to stretch, and thus allow the blank to splinter at the sharper bends. To obviate this, there is combined with the plunger 3 a dog 34, that is approximately triangular in shape and is secured to a flat spring 35, attached to the plunger, the dog being provided with a shoulder 35, upon which the end of the snath is designed to rest, as shown in Fig. 5. As the plungers descend and the bends are imparted to the blank the lower inner face of the dog contacts with the form 15, and as the said face is inclined the downward movements of the plunger will operate to force the dog laterally, and by the time the snathblank has come directly over the form the dog will. have been pushed away from the IIO snath to permit the latter to enter the form. In order to allow the requisite lateral movement of the dog for the purpose stated, the inner face of one Wall of the former is provided with a recess or chamber 36, as shown in Fig. 5.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The plungers being raised above the upper face of the former, a blank is placed over the mouth of the former and against the shields or jackets 23 and the machine is started. As soon as the plungers pass the straight mouth of the channel the shields all contact with the curved walls thereof and in yielding thereto cause the snath gradually to receive all of the belly bends, and by the time the blank is ready to be forced into the form 15 all of such bends will have been completely formed. As the blank passes from the former to the form the continued downward movement of the plungers will impart to it all of the vertical bends, thereby completing the operation. As soon as this has been effected the plungers are raised, another form is placed beneath the former, and the operation is repeated, as before.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that although the machine of this invention is exceedingly simple of construction it will be found of the highest efficiency and durability in use and will result in the rapid production of a finished and even product without the least possible danger of spoilage by splintering, cracking, or the like.

I claim 1. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, the combination with a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening, of a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane by contact with the walls of the channel, and reciprocatory actuating-bars combined with the plunger.

2. In a machine for bending scythesnaths, the combination with a former having a channel departing laterally fromthe plane of its opening, of a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane by contact with the walls of the channel, reciprocatory actuating-bars, and means for yieldably connecting the sections and the actuating-bars.

3. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, the combination with a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening, of a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane by contact with the walls of the channel, and flexible shields combined with the sections and projecting in advance thereof in the plane of travel.

4. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening to impart all of the horizontal bends to a snath-blank, a form adapted to impart all of the vertical bends to the blank, and a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane and coacting with the form to produce the finished blank.

5. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, a former, a plunger coacting therewith and provided with a resilient hook to hold a snath-blank in operative relation to the plunger, and a blank-receiving form adapted to flex the hook to release the blank.

6. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening, a plurality of articulated plungers coacting with the former, means carried by one of the plungers to hold the snath-blank in cooperative relation thereto, and means to release the blankholding device.

7. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, a former comprising side and end plates, the side plates having their opposed faces, pro vided with spaced ribs and contoured to impart all the horizontal bends to a snathblank, and an adjustable abutment combined with one end of the former.

8. In a machine for bending scythe-snaths, a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening and provided with an angular abutment, and a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane, and guards carried by the outer ends of the terminal sections.

9. A machine for bending scythe-snaths embodying in its construction, a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening, a form arranged beneath the channel, and a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane by contact with the walls of the channel and coacting with the form to produce a finished snath, and means for imparting end pressure to the blank.

10. A machine for bending scythe-snaths comprising a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its opening, a plunger embodying a horizontal series of sections articulated to each other to yield laterally in a horizontal plane by contact with the walls of the channel, and a yieldable shield or jacket combined with each of the sections and extending beyond the faces thereof that engage the blank to contact with another face of the blank.

11. A machine for bending scythe-snaths comprising a former having a channel departing laterally from the plane of its open- I In testimony that I claim the foregoing as ing, a plunger embodying a horizontal series my own I have hereto affixed my signature 1 pf sections articulated to] each other to yield in the presence of two Witnesses.

aterally in a horizonta. plane by contact With the walls of the channel, a yieldable ALBERT TOWE' shield carried by each of the sections, and Witnesses:

guards carried by the outer ends of the ter- J. M. C. SMITH,

ininal sections. F. H. POLLARD. 

